The present invention has to do with fastening systems, especially touch fastener systems. A touch fastener, as the term is used herein, comprises a first portion in the form of a planar backing material or part having a surface carrying hooks, mushrooms, balls on stems, pigtails, or the like, capable of engaging loops, hooks, mushrooms, balls on stems, pigtails, or the like, carried by a second planar backing material or part, forming a second portion, to fasten components together. By way of example only, touch fasteners include hook and loop type separable fasteners such as that sold under the trademark VELCRO are shown and described in the drawings and descriptions contained hereinafter.
Touch fastener materials have enjoyed great popularity and new uses therefor are constantly being realized. In use, one portion is attached to one surface to be joined and the other portion is attached to another surface to be joined. To join the two surfaces, the two touch fastener portions are merely pressed together. In some instances, the two touch fastener portions can be easily pulled apart while in other applications the fasteners are essentially permanently joined due to the type of touch fastener employed, e.g. the mushroom heads. The joining force is quite substantial, particularly in the "shear" direction while even major misalignment is accommodated.
FIG. 1 illustrates one common use for touch fastener materials, i.e. attaching a picture 10, or the like, to a surface such as a wall 12. As shown in the side view of FIG. 2, the prior art approach results in a gap 14 between the back surface of the picture 10 and the wall 12 caused by the thickness of the adhesive backing and active portions of the touch fastener materials generally indicated as 16. In many instances, the small gap 14 is quite acceptable. In others, both the gap and the ability of viewing the touch fastener materials 16 therethrough are aesthetically unpleasing. One principal example is the use of touch fastener materials to attach a speaker grill to the speaker enclosure. Where the design does not include a surrounding outer framework containing the grill therein so as to hide any gap, absolute flush mounting is required of the mounting system employed.
Wherefore, it is the object of the present invention to provide a mounting system for use with touch fasteners which will provide for firmly and securely mounting a structure to a support while providing for ready and easy movement of that structure to a second position spaced from the support.